The first time they saw each other, there was an awkward half smile, half grimace.
His clothes were charred, and Ahsoka's were as well, and Ahsoka told herself that was the main reason why she didn't let herself get that much closer to him. So she hovered to the side of the landing dock and merely nodded, and they hovered in painfully awkward silence before—
"Was Mandalore…"
"I heard about Utapau…"
The two of them stopped.
Ahsoka folded her arms over her chest just for something to do. Her arms ached a little from the effort, but she hoped that her expression didn't show the discomfort she felt now. "Maul's been apprehended," she said at last.
"Yes," Obi-Wan said. "I heard."
A beat.
"Congratulations," Obi-Wan said.
"And General Grievous?" Ahsoka asked.
"Also apprehended."
"Congratulations."
"Thank you."
They stood in silence again. Ahsoka looked past Obi-Wan to where Padmé and Anakin had been only moments before. That had been something of a mess and a rush in itself: Padmé, declaring that she might be going into labor, and Anakin, paling in the face and promptly forgetting that his marriage was, in fact, supposed to be secret. (Of course, that secret came rushing out almost as suddenly as Padmé's declaration of their slight emergency, and what had ensued was both chaos and some mild amusement in arranging for both Padmé and Anakin to leave for proper medical attention.)
Ahsoka wondered if the child had been born yet. And she wondered if she would at least be able to get to see the child before she went off again—wherever she went off too, that was. She might go visit Trace and Rafa. The thought alone brought Ahsoka some mild measure of comfort. Some place to go to after whatever…this was.
"Do you…have a place to stay?" Obi-Wan asked.
Ahsoka looked quickly at him.
Obi-Wan looked back.
"Yes," Ahsoka said after a while. "I should actually be heading back."
"Now?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Yes," Ahsoka repeated. She dropped her arms to her sides and started to walk past Obi-Wan. "It was…" Her words felt wrong in her mouth. "Nice to see you again."
Obi-Wan's eyes widened just a fraction of an inch—if Ahsoka hadn't been watching him so carefully, she wouldn't have noticed it at all. But then Obi-Wan dipped his head slightly, and eyes on the ground, he murmured back, "Of course."
When he lifted his head, Ahsoka was already re-focusing on the space behind Obi-Wan's shoulder.
The second time they saw each other, there was the fumbling of hands, the fumbling of a bag falling to the ground.
Their clothes both weren't charred this time at least. He looked a little neater, a little less worn, and she knew she was too, but Ahsoka told herself the reason she didn't let herself get that much closer to him was because she was too busy picking up her fallen luggage.
Luggage—she hadn't even packed that much, save for a few changes of clothes that fit in one pack. A datapad that she had no real intention of looking at.
Vacation, Anakin had told her in the week before. One that they all clearly needed. A quick trip to Naboo, one that, according to Anakin and Padmé, at least, was a few months overdue.
"I can—"
"It's fine," Ahsoka said, grabbing her bag before he could. She jerked up to her feet, just narrowly missing hitting Obi-Wan's chin. She took a few instinctive steps back. "Really."
But Obi-Wan was already opening the compartment, and for a moment, Ahsoka could just stop and look on as he shifted aside the other bags. He turned back around to her and held out a hand.
"It's fine," Ahsoka repeated, and with that, she tossed the luggage up to the compartment. She slammed the compartment door shut—perhaps a little harder than she really had to, and for a moment, she wished that she had been gentler.
She dropped her hands back down to her sides and turned around. "Do you have any…"
"No," Obi-Wan said quickly. "I already took care of mine."
Ahsoka wasn't surprised. She was tempted to say that—but she didn't.
"Right." Ahsoka hit her hand against the compartment door again, even though she knew that it was already secure enough. Especially when she had slammed it shut that hard. She dropped her hand back to her side and looked at Obi-Wan. "I think I'll…check how Anakin's holding up in the cockpit. He probably needs a co-pilot."
"Yes," Obi-Wan said. "I think he'd like that."
"I know. That's why I—" Ahsoka stopped herself.
Obi-Wan looked at her.
Ahsoka settled for squaring her shoulders. "Anyways," she said. "I'll be in the cockpit."
She didn't bother waiting for a response. She spun on her heel and marched for the cockpit. She heard Obi-Wan walking in the other direction.
"Oh, hey! Company!"
Ahsoka slid down to the co-pilot seat and just smiled at Anakin.
He looked better than Ahsoka had seen him in…years. No more baggy circles under his eyes, even though Ahsoka knew that he was spending more time with the twins—because in the end, Padmé had given birth to twins—and no more tightness on his face.
"Well," Ahsoka said, watching Anakin start up the ship, "I figured you might need someone."
"'Course," Anakin replied cheerfully. "But just so you know, when the kids start flying—"
"That won't be for at least another few years," Ahsoka pointed out.
"Maybe," Anakin said.
Ahsoka gave Anakin a sidelong look. "You know," she said, "if Padmé were here, she'd probably say otherwise."
"Good thing Padmé's taking a nap then," Anakin said. At Ahsoka's look, he waved his hand. "Don't worry. We're still talking about it. Compromise so far is to start them when they're ten. So not outrageously young."
"Well, if it's not outrageous…" Ahsoka leaned back in her seat. "So I guess you're stick with me being your co-pilot for another ten years."
"Yeah," Anakin said. Now it was his turn to look at Ahsoka. "You and Obi-Wan can switch out."
"Right," Ahsoka said, looking out the viewport. "Me and Obi-Wan."
They left the atmosphere.
"Did you two…" Anakin gestured out the doors.
"Am I supposed to know what that means?"
"You know what it's supposed to mean."
Ahsoka looked out the viewport.
"No," she said. "We didn't."
By the time they got to Naboo, the planet was already well into night, and the twins were cranky, and frankly, so was everyone else. (That was something that Ahsoka was getting used to. Now that the war waws over, everyone seemed perpetually trying to catch up on the sleep that they never got.)
They all found their rooms, and too tired to do much else except exchange "'night"s, Ahsoka drifted asleep.
She woke up later that night though, both thirsty and needing to use the refresher.
So she used the refresher and then padded to the kitchen, looking for water.
And that was the third time they actually saw each other—with him already standing in the kitchen, and with Ahsoka standing in the doorway.
She noticed that he was wearing clothes that were much looser and bigger than she would have expected otherwise. The sleeves hid his hands, but Ahsoka could tell he was holding a mug.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
The chronometer clicked past a minute that Ahsoka hadn't noticed.
"I…" Ahsoka cleared her throat. "Just getting water."
"Of course," Obi-Wan said. He opened a cupboard.
"I don't—"
Obi-Wan passed Ahsoka a cup.
She took it.
She filled it with water, glanced back at Obi-Wan. He was quietly stirring the contents of his mug with a spoon. Now that Ahsoka was a little more awake, she could actually smell the faint, flowery smell of tea. She couldn't remember the name for it, but she knew that it helped with sleep.
Ahsoka wondered how much of that particular tea he had been drinking these nights.
She hadn't noticed that she had been holding the glass under the tap for too long until she felt water spill over her hands. Hastily, Ahsoka turned back around to the sink and shut the tap off.
When she looked back up, Obi-Wan was already pushing her a few paper towels across the counter.
Ahsoka took it, wiped down the sink and her hands.
"Well," she said, after throwing out the paper towels, "good night."
"Good night."
Ahsoka wrapped her hands around the glass. It was too cold.
She walked back into her bedroom.
A few minutes later, she heard Obi-Wan's footsteps lead into the bedroom a little way from her own. She heard the door close, and then Ahsoka decided to close her eyes.
The next day was mostly spent at the lakes. Ahsoka waded into the water and splashed at Anakin. Built little sandcastles with the children. Stretched out on a towel and took a nap right in the sun, ignoring Padmé's protests to wear sunscreen.
And then Ahsoka did that over and over again for the next few days, not caring if the water was colder or warmer than the day before. Not caring if the little sand castles she made for the twins would eventually be washed away. Not caring if the sun did, in fact, burn at her skin a little.
Obi-Wan joined them, too.
He was sometimes in the water, dodging Anakin's splashes. Or he was sitting under a tree, reading a book with one of the twins in his lap. Or he was in the grasses, exchanging names of Naboo flowers and trees with Padmé.
Only one day, Obi-Wan didn't join them.
"You go off," Obi-Wan said, smiling but not quite. "I'll join you for dinner."
There was some pause between all of them—but then Padmé and Anakin exchanged a quick look, nodded.
Ahsoka noticed both of them squeezing Obi-Wan's shoulder—and then Anakin said something too quietly for Ahsoka to hear, but Obi-Wan shook his head. "Go," he said simply.
So they left, and Ahsoka stayed at the edge of the lake.
She looked over her shoulder a few times.
On the fifth time, Padmé asked if Ahsoka could go into the house to get some more water. The senator's tone was casual, but Ahsoka caught the sad little smile on her face and knew that she had been too obvious.
Ahsoka walked into the house anyways.
She found the water bottles in the kitchen, and she found Obi-Wan sitting at the balcony.
He looked very alone.
Ahsoka meant to walk away, but she knocked a water bottle off the counter.
Obi-Wan turned around.
And that was the fourth time they saw each other—with Ahsoka standing at the doorway of the balcony and Obi-Wan sitting at the other side. Ahsoka became very aware of the fact that her shins were still streaked with sand and lake water. And she also became very aware of the slight red in Obi-Wan's eyes, the slightest flush in his cheeks in his otherwise pale face.
"Ahsoka?"
"Just getting water," she said.
"I see."
She looked for something more to say. She just set a water bottle down at the entrance to the balcony.
"So how much longer are you two going to keep avoiding each other?"
Ahsoka looked abruptly up at Padmé.
Padmé was still cutting vegetables, the look on her face deceptively passive.
"I don't know what you're—"
"Ahsoka." Padmé turned to her.
Ahsoka paused, and then she looked down at the vegetables she was still washing. A surprisingly large amount of dirt stared up at her from the bottom of the bowl. She set the vegetables down on the colander, rinsed out the bowl she had done the washing in. The dirt swirled down the drain.
"It's just—there's not a good time," Ahsoka said after a little while. "We're all busy."
"We're on vacation," Padmé said.
"That's…" Ahsoka passed the now-cleaned vegetables to Padmé. "It's just different. Right now."
"Different how?"
When Ahsoka didn't answer, Padmé said gently, "He's still Obi-Wan. And you're still Ahsoka."
"It's more than that," Ahsoka said. "You know it is."
The chronometer ticked.
"Yes," Padmé said after a while. "I know."
They worked in silence for some time.
And then Padmé said, "Could you get Anakin? He'll be upset if I do this part without him."
Ah, yes. Ahsoka was still trying to get used to the fact that her former master actually liked cooking. She stepped out of the kitchen, but she found that Anakin was already on his way inside.
"Right on time," Ahsoka said.
"As always," Anakin replied.
Padmé let out a short laugh, which Anakin pretended to look insulted by. He patted Ahsoka's shoulder once. "Take a second," he said. "Dinner will be ready soon. Sooner, if I have anything to do with it."
"Then come have something to do with it," Padmé called.
Anakin grinned at Ahsoka. "Coming," he said. "Just set the table?"
Ahsoka nodded, and she started looking for the placemats. She listened to Anakin and Padmé exchange quiet words as she set them on the table. She couldn't make out the exact specifics of what they were saying, but she heard Padmé's laughter, followed by Anakin's own. Ahsoka turned around to look at them—their shoulders were touching each other's, and their hands seemed to follow each other's across the countertop.
Ahsoka walked around the table, set the last placemat down. She looked for napkins next, then the silverware. She heard music playing now—either Anakin or Padmé might have turned it on, although she couldn't tell who. More quiet laughter, and Ahsoka focused on finding the glasses. Her hand hovered briefly over one of the mugs.
She closed the cupboard doors.
Eventually, the whole place started to smell like warm spices and woodsy herbs. Anakin tossed her a roll, which she caught with her mouth. Padmé accidentally-on-purpose greeted Anakin with a flour-dusted hand to his back. Ahsoka spent the next hour or so trying to keep a straight face as her former master tried to figure out why Padmé and Ahsoka were giggling so much.
And in those moments, somehow, Ahsoka could almost have pretended that things were fine. Mostly fine. Almost mostly fine.
"Could you go get Obi-Wan?" Padmé asked. "He should be in his room."
Ahsoka paused. Padmé wasn't looking at her—she was getting out some of the plates.
"Anakin, you go get the kids," Padmé continued, and when Ahsoka looked at him, Anakin just gave her a little smile and a shrug.
Ahsoka puffed out a breath. "Okay," she said. "Okay."
"Thank you," Padmé said over her shoulder.
Ahsoka waved a hand, even though she knew the gesture would go unnoticed. She walked past the kitchen, then the dining room, then the sitting room. She reached the hallways leading off to their bedrooms, paused again. The hallway lights were turned off, and she could just see her own shadow stretching to the doors beyond.
Ahsoka set a hand on the wall, as though that gesture alone might steel herself for the next few moments.
And then she dropped her hand from the wall, because she didn't like that she had to do that just to do something as simple as let someone know that dinner was ready.
She squared her shoulders and walked down the hallway, a little too aware of the sound of her footfalls against the ground. She tried her best not to make her footsteps any louder, but that was difficult when she was the only one in this part of the house.
Ahsoka found Obi-Wan's door. She waited a full second before knocking.
"Master Kenobi? Dinner's ready."
No response.
Ahsoka considered walking away. She could. He would probably come out.
She stayed.
She cleared her throat and knocked again. "Master?"
Still no response.
Ahsoka frowned. She took a step back from the door. Considered it for another second, and before she could lose her nerve, she slid it open.
At first, she couldn't see anything—not beyond the light of the hallway shining into the bedroom, and then…
Ahsoka saw a distinctly Obi-Wan-shaped lump in bed. She looked back out into the hallway, wondering if Anakin or Padmé would come down, ask what was taking so long. But no one came.
It was just her.
Ahsoka walked into the room, careful to keep her steps quiet. She didn't know if—should she just leave him here? After all, he could probably use the sleep…but also—Ahsoka remembered how odd he looked before, when she had seen him on the balcony.
Ahsoka steeled herself. She just needed to wake him, and then they could both walk out.
She leaned across the bed. He was on his side, turned away from Ahsoka. She could make out that he had his hand cupped under his head, and Ahsoka wondered if that was uncomfortable at all.
"Master Kenobi," she whispered. She hesitated again, and when he didn't wake, she set a hand on his arm. She shook it once, lightly—and she was wondering whether she should try calling him again, but then he stirred.
"Is something…" Obi-Wan's voice was heavy with sleep as he turned over on his other side. Ahsoka would have found the whole thing funny—one part of his hair was unrulier than the other, and his eyes weren't quite open, but she could just stand back as she waited for him to wake fully.
"Just dinner," Ahsoka said. "Figured it was a good time to wake you up."
"Mm…" Obi-Wan hummed, rubbed a hand over his face. "Thank you, young one."
Ahsoka stilled. She hadn't heard that one in a long, long while. She looked at Obi-Wan again, found him sitting up. He was a little wobbly, still in that just-coming-out-of-sleep phase, she realized. Which would explain the sudden endearment, but—
Ahsoka's throat suddenly felt too tight.
Ahsoka was both relieved and disappointed to find that Obi-Wan was more awake during the actual dinner.
"Need a hand?"
Ahsoka looked up at Obi-Wan. She considered telling him no, everything was fine—she could handle the rest of the dishes herself, but she nodded instead. A small nod, but a nod nonetheless.
Obi-Wan nodded back, and he gestured for Ahsoka to move a little.
She did.
"Slept well?" Ahsoka asked after a little while, taking the plate Obi-Wan passed her.
"Ah…yes," Obi-Wan replied.
Ahsoka dried the plate. She caught their reflection briefly before setting it down on the counter.
"And you?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Yeah," Ahsoka replied. She took the next plate.
They worked in silence for a little while longer. Near silence. The water hitting the plate or the bottom of the sink was their only other companion.
"Thank you for the water," Obi-Wan said after a little while.
"You're welcome," Ahsoka said.
They fell quiet again.
"I guess I should…thank you," Ahsoka said slowly. "For the water. The other night, too." She picked up the stack of now-dried plates.
"In that case," Obi-Wan said, opening one of the cupboard doors, "you're also welcome."
Ahsoka pushed the plates inside and stepped back for Obi-Wan to close it.
They didn't have any more plates to wash.
Ahsoka wiped down the counter, even though there wasn't that much water on it. She just needed something to do with her hands. Or just for something to do besides standing around.
The chronometer ticked.
"Guess this was nice," Ahsoka offered, scrubbing particularly hard at an invisible stain on the counter. "While it lasted."
"Yes," Obi-Wan agreed. Out of the corner of her eye, Ahsoka noticed Obi-Wan starting to clean the opposite counter, even though she knew that counter was already practically spotless. She didn't look at him when he asked, "Do you have…much to do back on Coruscant?"
"A little bit," Ahsoka replied. "Still moving some things around."
"So your place…"
"Still fine," Ahsoka said. "Still good. Everything's good."
"That's…good."
Ahsoka tried for a smile, but it felt all jarring and wrong. So she stopped.
"And you?" she asked after another moment of too-long silence.
"The usual," Obi-Wan replied with both halfhearted cheer and weariness that almost made Ahsoka feel as though this were a normal conversation. "Lesson plans, last-minute negotiations, Council—" He paused.
"Meetings," she finished, ignoring the throb in her chest. She looked down at her hands. At the towel that her fingers were wrapped around. There wasn't a whole ton of water held in it, but she squeezed anyways, watching just the faintest drops trickle out and form the smallest of puddles. "Of course."
She cleared her throat and turned, extending her hand. "Finished?"
Obi-Wan wordlessly passed her the towel. She folded it into her own used one. She would have to go ask Padmé about where to put the used towels later…
"Here." Obi-Wan stepped around her, opened a cabinet door.
"Thanks." Ahsoka tossed the used towels into the cloth bag waiting for her. She wiped her hand against her pants leg and risked a glance over at Obi-Wan. He was shifting the bag back into position.
When he looked up, she gave him a tight-lipped smile. "I guess I'll…" She gestured past him.
"Right," Obi-Wan said. He stepped aside, and Ahsoka walked past.
Ahsoka meant to go to bed—they would have to fly early tomorrow morning, but she couldn't sleep.
She rolled on one side of the bed, then to the other. She stuffed her head underneath the pillow, but that just felt uncomfortable in more ways than Ahsoka would have liked to admit. She tried to sleep without her blankets, and then she tugged the blankets over her head.
She had to be the only one awake. She didn't even want to check the chronometer.
She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and looked anyways.
Nearly three in the morning.
Ahsoka rubbed her hands over her face. She could at least try to get some more sleep, but she had to be up in another four hours…and she couldn't stand the idea of trying to get sleep for another minute, let alone all those hours.
She pushed herself off the bed. Swung a robe over herself and padded out of her room. Maybe it was just too warm in the house—she could go for a very, very, very early morning walk and see if that tires her enough to get at least an hour of sleep…
The lights were off in the hallway, the living room when Ahsoka walked in. She wrapped her arms around her middle and started for the back doors. She had just reached them when she realized that she wasn't, apparently, the only one awake after all.
For some reason, Ahsoka wasn't surprised to find Obi-Wan sitting outside—but still, she hesitated.
She slid open the doors and walked out to him.
"Couldn't sleep?"
"No," Ahsoka replied, bringing her knees to her chest. "You?"
"No."
A breeze swept past them both. Somewhere, a night bird called.
Ahsoka set her chin down on top of her knees. "How long have you been out here?" she asked after a little while.
"Not quite sure. How long have you been awake?"
Ahsoka shrugged, picking at a loose strand on her robe. "Not really sure."
"Well…"
"Well."
Ahsoka picked some more before setting her hand down on the cold ground. She watched a bug crawl. Crawl away home, little guy.
She closed her eyes, re-opened them.
"You should try to get some sleep." Obi-Wan's voice was quiet.
"So should you," Ahsoka replied. She wound her arms around her knees. "You've got…things to do tomorrow. Today. Later today."
"And so do you."
"Well, I can't sleep," Ahsoka said, trying to sound a little more energetic than she actually was. "So you're just stuck with me, whether you like it or not." Or maybe that was too much—because Obi-Wan looked at her.
Ahsoka dropped her chin back to her knees and simply looked for the bug. It was a little farther away now.
"And I have no choice in the matter?"
"None at all," Ahsoka said.
"What an awkward situation."
"Very."
There it was again—that strange feeling that things could be right but not altogether were.
Ahsoka looked over at Obi-Wan. He looked at her too.
"Can we…" Ahsoka shifted against the ground. "Stay here, actually?"
Obi-Wan's face softened.
"I'm sorry. About before. About fighting."
"I am, too. For all of it."
A sad, small smile at each other.
It was funny how two little words could make things feel a little righter again.
Maybe not all the way—but righter than it had been before.
It was enough.
A/N: so this was the result of an ask game that i did on my tumblr (url is katierosefun!) like, a month ago when some people gave me a hypothetical title, and i responded with what fic i would write with the corresponding title. soplantyourownflowers on tumblr (also nightbloomingflowers on ao3) gave me the prompt "the moment was enough", and i spun this whole thing about post-season 7 obi-wan and ahsoka reconciliation. this fic is a little different from how i responded to the ask, mostly because this fic (as all fics do) kind of took a life of its own, but! I hope y'all still enjoyed this!
As always, reviews/favorites are greatly appreciated!